“Debris flows, responsible for economic losses and occasionally casualties in the alpine region, are mainly triggered by heavy rains characterized by hourly peaks of varying intensity, depending on the features of the basin under consideration. By integrating a recent classification of alpine basins with the radar storm tracking method, an innovative early warning system called DEFENSE (DEbris Flows triggEred by storms – Nowcasting SystEm) was developed using a Geographical Information System (GIS).

Example of storm tracking and nowcasting. Storm UTC time is shown in the centre of the cells, while colours identify storm severity and the cone represents the forecasted path.

“Alpine catchments were classified into three main classes based on the weathering capacity of the bedrock into clay or clay-like minerals, the amount of which, in unconsolidated material, directly influences the debris flow rheology, and thus the sedimentary processes, the alluvial fan architecture, as well as the triggering frequency and seasonal occurrence probability of debris flows. Storms were identified and tracked by processing weather radar observations; subsequently, rainfall intensities and storm severity were estimated over each classified basin. Due to rainfall threshold values determined for each basin class, based on statistical analysis of historical records, an automatic corresponding warning could be issued to municipalities.”

In order to that the non-monsoon crops yield has been decreasing 0.60% by each year.

“The main objective of the study was to assess climate change and its geohydrological impacts on non-monsoon crop pattern at watershed level through GIS development on climate informatics, land use informatics, hydro-informatics and agro-informatics. The Dabka watershed constitutes a part of the Kosi Basin in densely populated Lesser Himalaya, India in district Nainital has been selected for the case illustration. This reconnaissance study analyzed the climatic database for last three decades (1982–2012) and estimates that the average temperature and evaporation loss have been rising with the rate of 0.07 °C/year and 4.03 mm/year respectively whereas the average rainfall has been decreasing with the rate of 0.60 mm/year. These rates of climate change increasing with mounting elevations. Consequently the existing micro climatic zones (sub-tropical, temperate and moist temperate) shifting towards higher altitudes and affecting the favorable conditions of the land use pattern and decreased the eco-friendly forest and vegetation cover.

(a) Sketch diagram of high underground water level, perennial springs and streams with thick vegetation cover and dense forests in their recharge zones during 1982-1990, (b) Poor underground water level due to deforestation in the recharge zones of the springs consequently number of perennial springs and streams dried up till 2011, (c and d) Spatial distribution of perennial springs and streams in Dabka watershed respectively during 1982-190 and 2005-2011.

“The land use degradation and high rate of deforestation (0.22 km2 or 1.5%/year) leads to accelerate several hydrological problems during non-monsoon period (i.e. decreasing infiltration capacity of land surface, declining underground water level, drying up natural perennial springs and streams, decreasing irrigation water availability etc.). In order to that the non-monsoon crops yield has been decreasing with the rate of 0.60% each year as the results suggest that the average crop yield is just about 58 q/ha whereas twenty five to thirty year back it was recorded about 66 q/ha which is about 12% higher (8 q/ha) than existing yield. On the other hand the population increasing with the growth rate of 2% each year. Therefore, decreasing crop yield and increasing population raised food deficiency problem and the people adopting other occupations which ultimately affecting rural livelihood of the Himalaya.”

“In continuing its support of education, and in line with the President’s ConnectED vision of opening new opportunity through technology in the classroom, Esri will provide to every U.S. K-12 school in America free access to ArcGIS Online Organization accounts — the same GIS technology as used by government and business. These allow users to map and analyze data, create and share content, and collaborate in the cloud — via computers, tablets, or smartphones, anytime, anywhere connected. This commitment expands on Esri’s successful program in pilot schools at all levels across the country, and will allow students to do projects of unlimited content, from global to local, building community, as well as knowledge and skills for college and career.”

You’re a GIS professional. You’ve been around the technology for years, and you use it every day. You present your work at conferences and leave with a stack of business cards from like-minded geogeeks. You and your peers have lengthy discussions about the finer points of isolines and your latest adventures in kriging over burritos at lunch. But you struggle when a friend, neighbor, spouse, sibling, grandparent, or child asks:

“What is it exactly that you do?”

Why GIS, of course! Which is inevitably followed by a quick:

“What IS GIS?”

There are at least as many definitions of GIS as there are GIS professionals. Perhaps you’re an old school paleogeographer and prefer a classical definition:

“GIS is a tool that can access, integrate, and distribute layers of map information. The five parts of a GIS include hardware, software, data, procedures, and people.”

“GIS lets us visualize, question, analyze, interpret, and understand data in new ways. This can reveal relationships, patterns, and trends.”

It might be easier for some people to understand what GIS is if you first gave it some context:

“A transformation is taking place. Businesses and government, schools and hospitals, nonprofit organizations, and others are taking advantage of it. All around the world, people are working more efficiently because of it. Information that was limited to spreadsheets and databases is being unleashed in a new, exciting way—all using GIS.”

Or perhaps it’s easier for you to describe GIS in terms of a simple workflow:

“People intuitively understand maps. When a decision needs to be made, GIS helps us gather information and place it on a digital map. We then use GIS to evaluate the decision geographically. Once we fully understand the geographic consequences of the decision, we can act in an informed, responsible manner.”

Maybe you prefer to talk about GIS in terms of the types of questions it can answer:

“Where are my customers and potential customers? Which areas of my town are most vulnerable to natural disasters? Where should we locate a new elementary school? GIS can help answer questions such as these by combining data from many sources and producing customized maps.”

Some people find it more effective to communicate GIS as a value proposition, in terms of the benefits it can bring to an organization:

“GIS benefits organizations of all sizes and in almost every industry. There is a growing interest in and awareness of the economic and strategic value of GIS. The benefits of GIS generally fall into five basic categories:

Cost savings resulting from greater efficiency

Better decision making

Improved communication

Better geographic information recordkeeping

Managing geographically”

Or do like to take more of a philosophical approach?

“Remote sensing satellites and earthbound sensors are providing us with vast amounts of new data about our planet. With the availability of easy-to-use GIS tools to display and analyze this data, now everyone can be geographer. This has far-reaching benefits to both society and the environment, ushering in a new era of understanding our world.”

Sometimes, depending on who is asking the question, your only hope at getting anything other than a blank stare may be an overly-simplistic definition, even if it loses some of the most important characteristics of what GIS does: